Literacy Design Collaborative
Using Textual Evidence to Analyze Literary Responses to Historical Events
Scholars analyze Animal Farm to learn how to add textual evidence into essays to support their ideas. They search for a deeper meaning to the story and how it relates to the text Totalitarianism and Revolutions in Russia. To finish,...
PBS
A Time and Place: The Importance of Setting in To Kill a Mockingbird
A strong community acts as a family during difficult times. The evidence for the family aspects of Maycomb is abundant in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is the focus of a lesson on the importance of setting as it relates to a...
PBS
The Legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird: Continuing Atticus’s Fight for Justice
Tom Robinson was only one man in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, but he represents many people throughout history who have not found justice in the American justice system. Language arts students discuss the theme of social justice...
PBS
Figuring Out Figurative Language in The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is well known for its relatable characters and plot, but don't forget how effective the book's figurative language can be! Check out an interactive resource that explores how figurative language comes alive...
Odell Education
Reading Closely for Textual Details: Grades 9-10
Pay close attention! After finding details in a picture, scholars begin to find details in videos and text. They work together in groups, discuss in pairs, and carry out independent reading to answer guiding questions. Organizers, tools,...
PBS
Symbolism and Personification in The Outsiders
A shirt can't really swallow you—right? Readers find examples of symbolism and personification in S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders with two straightforward lessons.
Simon & Schuster
Les Miserables Classroom Activities
Modern readers apply classic themes to Victor Hugo's masterpiece, Les Miserables. After they discuss tricky vocabulary and plot elements from the novel, class members compare Hugo's written work to a stage or film adaptation of the musical.
Women in World History Curriculum
Women and Confucianism
Young historians consider the far-reaching effects of traditional teachings on the debates about the current attitudes toward women in society. The discussion begins with a list of New-Confucian sayings and expands to a global perspective.
University of Iowa
Every Atom: Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”
Discussion questions for Walt Whitman's "Son of Myself" ask class members to reflect on the beauty that can be found in labor, the sense of identity that transcends divisions, and on the many riddles in Whitman's poem. ...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Walt Whitman: From Song of Myself
Looking for a resource that models how to read and analyze a poem? Check out this packet that uses sections of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" to demonstrate how to paraphrase, note literary elements, and identify the poet's inferences.
ELI Publishing
Whitman and the American ‘Romantic’ Nature
Pupils read a short biography of Walt Whitman and a portion of Whitman's epic poem "Song of Myself." Readers then respond to a series of comprehension questions.
Robert Frost Farm
“Choose Something Like a Star” Discussion—Applying Style to Content
Robert Frost's "Choose Something Like a Star" and John Keats' "Bright Star" provide the text for a two-part instructional activity in which class members analyze the effects of style on meaning in poetry. Randall Thompson's song cycle...
Colorado Springs School District
AP Literature and Composition Reading and Writing Transition Tasks
Worried about the summer slide? Scholars keep literature skills sharp by working through a summer packet to prep for AP Literature classes. Pupils annotate and close read short stories, answer questions about a variety of literary...
Reed Novel Studies
Treasure Island: Novel Study
Pirates ahoy! Readers go on an adventure using a novel study for Treasure Island as they research and write about a modern-day pirate story. Additionally, scholars practice writing similes and alliteration before answering comprehension...
Reed Novel Studies
To Kill a Mockingbird: Novel Study
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to the Works of John Green
The novels of John Green cover the gamut of teenager emotions. A guide to his works provides classroom lesson plans for the novels Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, The Fault in Our Stars, and Paper Towns. Each lesson...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Jack the Ripper terrorized London in the late 1800s. An educator's guide for the novel The Name of the Star places the historical figure in a modern context. Readers complete a pre-reading activity before answering a series of discussion...
Maryland Department of Education
A Raisin in the Sun and Dreams Deferred
To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences by...
Planet e-Book
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
True passion can drive you mad. Stephen Dedalus, the main character in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man straddles many lines, including those between sanity and insanity, piety and sin, and individuality and...
Planet e-Book
Crime and Punishment
Can an action be so bad that you are sickened with guilt? Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the main character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, believes that committing a crime could be the answer to his troubles. However, the...
Planet e-Book
Dubliners
The Dubliners contains 15 short stories all bound in one book. The stories begin with narration by young children, and as they progress, so do the ages of the narrators. The author, James Joyce, focuses most stories on characters that...
Reed Novel Studies
Of Mice and Men: Novel Study
Why is personification such a popular literary device for many authors? Learners answer the question as they engage in activities from the novel study for the classic Of Mice and Men. They also scan the novel to find examples of the...
Creative Content Australia
Persuasive Language
Language has power. Use the materials in a language arts teaching guide to equip learners with the knowledge of the persuasive techniques, both verbal and visual, that can be used to influence thinking.
Reed Novel Studies
Hatchet: Novel Study
Thanks to Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, teen readers now know it's possible to survive in the wilderness. A study guide for the novel discusses common topics and vocabulary words found within the text. Additionally, readers get the chance to...